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tried it?”
    “No. No, I haven’t.”
    “I didn’t think so.”
    “It’s time we got going,” Shari said to Patience, tugging on her arm. “I need to get Button rubbed down and put away. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.”
    Shari led Button back toward the livestock barns and Patience walked beside them, thinking about the women she had met. She wished she had gotten off on a better foot with Jade, one of the event’s top contestants, but perhaps in time things would smooth out between them.
    “Jade’s a spoiled little rich girl,” Shari said, apparently reading her mind. “Don’t let her get to you.”
    “She’s a good rider. She had the fastest time of the night.”
    “Oh, she can ride. But her daddy pays for everything. Jade is used to getting what she wants and she doesn’t like anyone getting in her way.”
    Patience stopped and turned. “Am I missing something here?”
    Shari tied the sorrel to the pipe fence and began to unbuckle the flank strap on her saddle. “Jade and Dallas used to have a thing. As far as Jade’s concerned, they still do. She probably saw you talking to him out on the road when you came in.” Shari grinned. “Either that or she thinks you might be competition.”
    “Actually, I think Jade and Dallas are perfect for each other.”
    Shari laughed. She loosened the cinch and lifted off the saddle, a lightweight barrel style still steaming underneath from Button’s high-speed run.
    “He’s a beautiful horse.” Patience ran a hand down the animal’s sweat-slicked neck.
    “Button’s one of the best barrel horses in the business. I wouldn’t trust him with just anyone, but my trailer’s falling apart and like I said when you called, I need to save as much money as I can this summer so I can go back to school in the fall. The good news is, I found someone to haul him I know will take good care of him.”
    “Great.”
    “You met him earlier…Steve Weathers? Everyone calls him Stormy. He travels with Dallas unless Dallas is off at some big rodeo. West Wind Trailers is one of Dallas’s sponsors. He’s got a custom three-horse rig with one of those fancy built-in RV sleepers. Stormy asked him if they could take Button, and Dallas said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
    Patience ran the information around in her head, a sinking feeling creeping into the pit of her stomach. “That means you’ll be going to the same shows as Stormy, right?”
    “Yeah, which is good, because he and Dallas always hit the highest paying shows.”
    Which meant her nemesis, Dallas Kingman, would be around a lot more than she had expected.
    “I know what you’re thinking and you don’t have to worry. Once you get to know him, Dallas is a real nice guy.”
    Patience just smiled.
    So far, the first day of her adventure hadn’t been her favorite.

CHAPTER 3
    It was late in the evening by the time Patience drove back to the Cozy Nest Motel not far from the rodeo grounds and settled into the spartan room she had rented when she got into town. She was tired from the long, exhausting trip. She hadn’t flown directly to Texas, but yesterday had landed in Oklahoma City, then driven today the two hundred fifty odd miles to the little town of Rocky Hill.
    It was hard to believe she had actually arrived, that tonight she had attended her first rodeo. She had been so excited and in such a hurry to get to the arena, she had left her cell phone on the dresser in the motel room. She picked it up as soon as she walked through the door and punched in her dad’s home number, knowing he would be worried if he didn’t hear from her soon.
    His wife, Tracy, answered. Patience had been eleven when her father had married Tracy, just twenty-six at the time. The two of them had wound up being more like sisters than mother and daughter. Still, Tracy sounded relieved to hear her voice. Patience knew she wasn’t the only one who had been changed by Tyler Stanfield. Her family had suffered as well.
    Tracy asked if